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"Yes and no. Neither of you had a choice really, but while Susan spends her time trying to run away from the supernatural entirely, you embraced your role and have always seen to your duties faithfully. Then again, Susan was a mortal, whereas you, milady, are not."
"Really, I hadn't noticed?" Hela replied dryly, though her eyes sparkled with appreciation at Harry's compliment. Too often Hela had sometimes considered herself a forgotten god among the Asgardians. Her role after all was to look after the souls that didn't make Odin's cut for Valhalla or for Freya's in Sessrúmnir, which included of course the dishonorable dead, the sick or those unremarked in old age. And the other Asgardians had never really showed her as much respect as she should have given her power. Fear yes, many Asgardians had feared her, but that was just it: they feared her when they thought of her at all. Most of the time, as far as the mishmash that was her long term memories could tell Hela, she was simply ignored. That was even harsher than simply being feared in many ways. Hela realized this might not in fact have been the case in ages past, but she didn't know that, and couldn't prove it.
From there the conversation segued into more personal matters. They talked about Rahne and her progress under Garm, as well as the rumor she might be developing a so-called 'girl crush' on Dani. "I have no idea where the name for that phenomenon came from and I am uncertain I want to." Hela said drolly. "Still, I can see some of her appreciation at least when the two interact."
"Since this is the first I've heard it milady, I'm afraid I can't help you there. On the other hand, I think Betsy's been sniffing around Steve whenever he's been in the castle these past few days." Harry said with a chuckle as he remembered something Piotr and Amara had passed on to him.
"Hmm, now that would be an interesting pairing," Hela mused, before changing the subject. While she was willing to speak about their deepening relationship later, they were still in public even hidden under Harry's modified charms, designed to protect their identities. "On another topic, I understand you and that Russian priest have had some arguments of late?"
"Father Garnoff believes I need to be doing more to help Russian mutants. I'm afraid there were seven names that appeared in the Big Book before turning to black instantly this past week, and four of them were from Russia. Garnoff knows we're still stretched thin in terms of our retrieval teams, but he keeps on trying to come up with ideas to pressure Russia into agreeing to my mutant rights reforms. The problem is that none of them would work. It doesn't help that the Orthodox church in that area has had to go to ground again. I'll admit to being surprised they took the stance they did, to protect their flocks, mutant or not, but with society so much against them as well as the government there's little we can do without far more resources on the ground than we have right now."
From there the conversation turned to more serious matters until the food arrived. After that by mutual agreement they changed the subject to happier things. The food was excellent, and the night ended on a high note as Harry escorted Hela to the hall of runic doorways. Hela had plans for wine and night over at Emma's, the other girls having already left by the time Harry and Hela returned to the castle. Harry in turn had plans with the Thing and a few others for a poker game over in the Baxter Building.
With a wave of her hand Hela changed the dress she had been wearing, a slinky, green number that covered everything but hinted at what lay beneath, to her every day one. Reaching out, she cupped Harry's cheek, stroking her finger along his jaw. "Tonight has been a lovely evening Harry, thank you."
"You are welcome milady. But can your would-be paramour ask if it has been good enough to win him a kiss?" Harry asked, taking her hand in his and pressing it against his chest.
Hela could feel the beat of Harry's heart, steady, but speeding up as she listened, and a warm smile spread on her face even as she flushed faintly at the directness of his question. "You may indeed."
For a moment Harry leaned in, then as Hela backed away slightly he laughed getting it. "Very well Hela, may I have a kiss to end the evening?"
Hela had barely a moment to nod before Harry's lips pressed into her own, his arms going around her waist. While his hands didn't stray, the touch was almost like fire against her nerves, leaving a trial of goosebumps behind. And while Harry had quickly taken control of the kiss, he made no move to deepen it. That he let to Hela.
Without hesitation she did so, and the two of them began to make out for a moment. There was love and desire mixed in this kiss, as well as a healthy bit of pure lust, and Hela, who had never kissed anyone like this before, moaned into the kiss before gently pulling away, their tongues remaining in touch for a second even after their mouths separated. "Enough for now, my seidr man," She said, her voice a throaty alloy of love and stern control. "I am not quite ready for where more of that could lead."
"I will never press you Hela. But does that mean you have decided that we are past the courtship phase?" Harry asked intently. "Even if nothing more than kisses happen just yet milady, I would dare to bet that you will never have had as good a night's sleep as you will in bed with the other ladies and I."
"I daresay you are correct there. You would certainly keep my Shadow-fueled nightmares at bay," Hela replied with a wry chuckle. "But I will give you my reply after this United Nations foolishness is done, not before. You must have your mind fully concentrated on this, your first true moment in the public eye of the whole world."
"Foolishness? You think I shouldn't talk to them then?"
"No, you need to, and you need to admit to being Guardian in front of as wide an audience as possible. However I think it is foolish to believe that anything further of substance will be accomplished there. Why talk to the ambassador, who has no power to make decisions? You should always talk directly to the king."
Leaving Harry with that thought, Hela turned and entered the portal to Emma's house.
For her part Jean was busy with the work going on in space, of course. She had taken Polaris under her wing almost despite the two actually being of an age, and both of them spent a lot of time working with the repair teams on the Kree Doom Bringer, which would eventually be rechristened as Warspite.
On top of this, Ororo, Harry, and Hela had made time to work out with the Custodes. Steve had yet to join them, working with the US government to slowly transfer the remaining SHIELD holdings to other agencies and seeing to the destruction of the helicarrier, which had been ordered by the president pro-tem, no longer wanting any agency to have the massive flying carrier under its control. E had actually used the material from it to help in his repair projects.
However, all of them, including Jean, had made it a point to leave the evening before the day of Harry's meeting with the UN free. The extended family actually had plans to fly into New York, or rather, Harry Potter and the others had plans to do so, including the kids. Melody, Illyana, and Einzahl would be coming with them on a plane Harry had bought from Emma for the purpose.
Several hours before they were due to leave, Harry came into the bathroom after putting a few pieces of clothing into a small bag (more so he was seen carrying things than anything else) in search of his toiletries to find Jean standing naked in front of the sink. She was staring down at her breasts and stomach, which had a noticeable bulge now, a morose look on her face. Her breasts had started to grow, going from a decent C-cup to pushing D and becoming slightly saggy, where before they were almost superhumanly perky. Her strawberry colored nipples also had slightly changed color.
The sight took Harry's breath away, and he paused, staring.
Spotting him in the reflection, Jean looked away. "Gah, how can you even look at me?! I'm like a slowly expanding blimp. Why the hell haven't we looked into in-vitro technology? I am feeling so damn ugly right now, and I've started having morning sickness at the oddest times, and…"
"Stop, Jean," Harry said, moving forward to enfold her into a hug. He pressed himself into her back, his hands moving around her stomach tenderly. This wasn't the first time he had dealt with Jean's being depressed due to her changing hormones. "You're not ugly; you could never be ugly, inside or out. We haven't looked into in-vitro because it was never a priority. Maybe we can look into it in the future. Your morning sickness isn't an issue; that's why we have both potions and house-elves."
Jean sniffled, looking away, though Harry could tell she was already reacting to not only his words but his touch. "How can you say I'm not ugly? Look at my tits; they're sagging! And my stomach, it's like I ate half a watermelon already, and it's only going to get worse!"
"Because pregnant women are sexy, and you've always been sexy to begin with. Yes, your breasts might be sagging right now. That's because they've grown; they'll go back to normal after your pregnancy is done." Moving her hair aside, Harry began nipping at Jean's bare collarbone. One hand moved up from her stomach, hefting one of her breasts as he began to fondle it, while the other one moved down and around to Jean's rear. "Let me prove it to you…"
Moaning, Jean leaned back into Harry's chest, enjoying his ministrations. Yet at the same time her analytical and conscientious mind told her they didn't have time for this. "We're due at the London Airport in a bare hour and a half, Harry. We don't have timMM…"
Jean's voice broke out into a louder moan as Harry moved down her back, leaving a trail of kisses as he slowly disappeared from the mirror's reflection. "We have time enough for this. There is always time for us."
Exactly an hour later, Jean and Harry joined the others in the main hall. Everyone else was already there, wishing them luck. The girls, save Rahne and the younger set, all saw how Jean was glowing more than usual and snickered to themselves, but moments later the group going to New York was ready to go. This included Piotr, Amara, the kids, Jean, Emma, Hela, and Ororo. Ororo and Amara would be accompanying Harry openly to the meeting and would reveal themselves as he did. The others would be heading to Emma's mansion, where they would be in telepathic communication with Harry during the meeting, while Piotr would come back to Camelot with the kids.
They once more used the magic carpet to head down to London, where they went through the airport like normal, albeit incredibly rich, people would, boarding the plane. The kids promptly began to watch a movie, while the girls and Harry spent some time simply talking to one another. Hela and Jean began to talk about the Phoenix, of all things, and how she was similar and yet dissimilar to Death, while Ororo and Harry talked about the kids and what they wanted to do the next day.
The next day the group openly went around New York, spending the morning shopping and seeing the sights. Harry Potter, whose public face was well known at this point, of course drew a lot of attention, but he and the gorgeous black woman on his arm ignored them, apparently simply on a trip with several others, both employees and children. No one approached them, which Harry was thankful for, though he could see several people try to build up the courage to do so.
Harry and Melody did an impromptu little dance in FAO Schwarz on the giant piano keys, which drew a lot of laughter and seemed to make the group of impromptu admirers or questioners back off, realizing that interrupting someone's family time would have been intolerably rude. There were still many pictures of them taken, however, but none of those pictures would include Jean's pregnancy. That was still covered by as many illusion spells as Harry could contrive, and Jean wore an emergency portkey in the form of a bracelet to go with the defensive spells on the wedding ring Harry had made her. After Sage had told him about how the attacker had shifted priorities to Jean when she showed up, Harry was taking no chances.
Eventually, however, the free portion of their day ended. As they walked back to the hotel, Melody looked up at her father, smiling brightly. The spells Harry had designed to muffle her mutant power to a level such that she could be in public had worked even better than they had the last time, and she had loved her day out. "Have you recharged your happy meter enough, Father?"
"Happy meter?" Harry asked, smiling down at his first daughter and pulling her up onto one shoulder, placing his other hand onEinzahl'sshoulder. Piotr already was carrying Illyana on his shoulders, and Einzahl was holding Ororo's hand. "What exactly is a happy meter?"
"Oh, you know what it is. It's the amount of happiness you have in you, which helps you deal with all the things you don't want to," Melody replied, letting loose a giggle. "You and all the others need to refresh your happy songs before doing things like this meeting, which you're not looking forward to. You have to do it, but I'm happy to see you'll be as recharged as you can be."
"Heh, well, that's one way of seeing it, I suppose. And is that why you and the others have been acting particularly good today?" Harry asked, reaching up to pull the end of Melody's multi-colored hair. The girl's elfin features and hair color had drawn almost as many glances and mutters as Harry and Ororo, many of them being anti-mutant. But no one had tried to make trouble for her thanks to their presence, even though Harry hadn't been actively using his magic to stop that.
"Yep!" Melody chirped. "We'll make up for it by running around and trying to escape you all when we go to the beach. But I asked the others to behave for you today."
"Well, thank you for that, princess," Harry replied, laughing.
The group entered the hotel, asking their way up to the rooms they had booked on the top floor for the single night they would be staying in New York. The moment the door closed behind them, Jean pulled out a scanner Reed had designed for their espionage people. A moment later she had found two bugs and covered them for the moment with devices which would block the signal with nothing for a few seconds, as if the group had yet to arrive.
As she was doing this, Ororo and Harry hugged or kissed the kids goodbye. Cory and Clare appeared there, waiting to teleport the kids back. But they also brought Garm with them. Harry and Hela exchanged evil smiles as Harry asked, "You ready to play bait, Garm?"
"Eagerly," Garm said, showing his fangs.
Harry fully anticipated that someone would be along to try and kidnap the kids, though he and his ladies had argued about whether that attempt would come before or after the big reveal. Harry and Emma felt both, Hela after, and Jean and Ororo said that the FOH would try to kidnap them to get back at Harry for his stance on mutant rights before the big reveal, or at least before they heard about it.
However, since Garm had not had many outings of late save with Rahne, he had volunteered to replace the kids. This way not only would the kids be safe, since that was obviously a given thanks to the house-elves, the would-be kidnappers would be, "appropriately dealt with," in Hela's words.
After letting the youngsters all pet his sides, the giant wolf moved over to the suite's sitting area. Once there he extended one claw from his paw, trying vainly to tap the controls of the TV.
"What are you trying to watch, my wolf?" Hela asked, moving over to help her protector, leaning up to scratch at his ear with her other hand.
"There is a series on that young Dani recommended to me, a Wolves in the Wild series set in Northern Canada somewhere," Garm replied, his eyes twitching away shiftily.
Of course Hela caught this, but didn't say anything, instead turning the TV on and looking at Harry. "How do I bring up the channel selection?"
"Oh there's no need for that, mistress. I can…" Garm began.
But Harry had already moved over to help her, still carrying Melody on his shoulder. She smiled happily at the giant wolf, then asked, "Oh, are you going to watch Homeward Boundagain? I know you liked watching the ending the other night."
Cocking her eyebrow behind her half-mask at her protector, Hela watched as he seemed to shrink slightly, looking away sheepishly. "The, um, the comedy is amusing to my mind. And I can at least hope that sarcastic feline eventually gets hers!"
Keeping a giggle from escaping with goddess-like control, Hela nodded and let Garm retain what tatters remained of his dignity. "Of course, Garm. Let me just find the right channel."
Moments later, she and Jean were teleported by Cory to Emma's mansion and the kids by Clare back to Camelot. Harry, Ororo, and Amara changed into their uniforms and left via a magic carpet that already had Scott sitting on it. From there they would fly down to land in front of the UN.
Behind them they left Garm, who, now that he was alone, settled down to watch the show. This did not mean he was not on guard, of course. About an hour later, when someone smashed open the door, they discovered this to their cost, finding not the kids they had been looking for, but a wolf larger than a man was tall and a gaping maw full of sharp teeth.
Elsewhere, Guardian landed in the plaza in the front of the UN building. Despite being crammed full of people wanting to see what happened, the area was being held open by police and National Guardsmen.
Landing, he strode forward toward the front entrance to the UN, Storm by his side, and Cyclops and Magma fanning out like an honor guard as they followed. Behind them he could hear hundreds of cameras flashing, hundreds of shouted questions, and more than one newscaster speaking live about their arrival. He ignored it all, however, knowing that the meeting itself would be recorded by other newspaper reporters. Harry had wanted this to all be done in as public a manner as possible.
Addressing the UN security personnel and the leader of the National Guard contingent, Guardian held out a black-clad hand. "Good afternoon. My name is Guardian, as you no doubt know, and this is my party. I believe we are expected."
OOOOOOO
If they thought about it at all, it would probably surprise a lot of people that Latveria had a seat in the UN. It shouldn't have, considering what other countries did, of course. But Doom's more obvious than normal despotism and his nation's recent actions still made it rather unexpected.
Something that had made many of the other ambassadors even more nervous about that than usual, however, was that Dr. Doom himself was there today to represent his country. Wearing his armor as always, Doom lounged in his ambassador's chair, somehow appearing as comfortable as if he was sitting on his throne back in Latveria. He had vowed on his name to not attack anyone there when he first showed up that morning, but even so, with his armor and his presence, the self-made king was a imposing figure.
This was not helped by the fact that he was also drinking wine out of a cup made from the Red Skull's cranium, which he had personally extracted from its owner. Thankfully, he had done so after the man had been safely dead. Many of the other ambassadors had stared at the gruesome trophy at first, though more than a few seemed to approve of it—if not the trophy itself, then at least the victory it represented.
And none of them wondered why Doom had decided to be here in person today of all days. Everyone knew today would be a momentous day if Guardian appeared as he had promised he would. And while many of the ambassadors here were incredibly leery of the man and the power he represented, they felt he had at least told the truth about showing up to talk to them.
The ambassadors all looked up in expectation as the doors to the assembly hall opened, and Guardian and his followers strode in. There were some mutters from the American and Canadian ambassadors as they recognized Cyclops and Storm, but they silenced themselves as the group was led forward. "Ambassadors, we present Guardian and friends," one of their guides said, gesturing the group of super-powered individuals forward.
Guardian AKA Harry paused, taking in the room. Along three quarters of the room there were five raised levels like an amphitheater, with each nation's ambassador having their own seat, their own headset, notepad, and table. Along the back wall was a further area devoted to the translators for the various countries, each of them separated into their own small, soundproof cubicles. Harry wondered idly how many of their languages Ororo could already speak,
Directly above the translator cubicles was a balcony in which a group of video cameras and their crews worked to cover the entire room or bits of it as fitted their viewership. Harry was amused to note that there seemed to be more such up there than was probably normal, given how crowded it was. Well, they expect a show, and I bet we will deliver one way or another, though what kind, I can't tell yet.
At the front of the room on the floor was a raised dais leading back to the far wall, upon which was a large UN symbol, but Harry could see that it was also a computer screen at need. On the dais before it was a long, lightly curved table facing out toward the rest of the room. There sat the permanent members of UN Security Council: the US, Russia, the UK, China, and France.
Ambassadors from nine other countries also sat there, their positions rotating on a yearly basis, but their power to make policy was very limited given that the five permanent members held veto power. At the moment the countries represented there were India, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan, Taiwan, and three countries whose flags Harry couldn't recognize offhand. Emma's voice speaking into his mind, however, filled in the blanks, telling him one was Bolivia, and the other two were Malta and Cambodia.
The way it was set up, however, and the way Guardian and his group had been led in, made it seem more like they were petitioners coming before them more than anything else. The way the Director General stood up and began to talk to Harry and his people reinforced this notion. He seemed to want to put them into their place in no uncertain terms.
"Guardian, you have been asked to present yourself before this body for several reasons. The first reason, of course, is about rumors that have reached this body about further aggressions between you and the aliens known as the Kree. You have somehow decided that you personally are able to make policy for Earth and humanity despite having no such mandate. We, the united nations of the world, demand an explanation," the man said, glaring at Harry, not angrily, but certainly patronizingly.
Oh, dear. They demand? Aren't they cute when they speak as if they are in charge here?" Hela said snarkily, her voice carried to Harry's mind via Emma's power. In the background Harry got the impression that Jean was laughing dryly.
"Well, if they think that, it's time to disabuse them of that notion," Harry replied, before addressing the room, using a spell to let his voice reach every person there equally. "Demand? You demand of me an answer for my actions? You misunderstand the reason for this meeting. I am not here to answer to you, nor because you may have requested my presence. I am here of my own volition to demand action from you. I am not some supplicant called onto the carpet."
He waved his hand towards the long table, casting a transfiguration spell on it. As the ambassadors all shouted and scrambled away, the table expanded along its length to allow for two more seats. Harry stood, making no more moves, while the guards who had walked them in grabbed at their weapons, only to stop as they noticed no one had been hurt.
After they realized that but before anyone could say anything, Harry moved over to the table, holding a chair out for Ororo before sitting down beside her. Behind him, Amara and Scott moved back to the wall, taking up station with the various security personnel there. Harry leaned back, his masked gaze looking first at the speaker, then at each of the Security Council's members. "I will be treated as an equal, or I will not treat with you at all."
Leaning back in his chair Doom silently applauded Potter's stance, watching the faces of the people around him as well as the Big Five. Russia's ambassador looked furious, of course, while the Frenchman looked dyspeptic. Despite that he backed down quickly, making Doom wonder if the man had been given marching orders to make nice with Guardian. The US ambassador also said nothing, merely sitting back down and examining Harry thoughtfully. He was a younger man, a recent replacement assigned to the UN barely two days before by the president pro-tem, and Doom had little to no information on him.
"You say we should treat you as an equal, yet why should we do so?" the Russian ambassador barked. "You have no power base, no nation, no army! You only have your own resources and those of your followers! And no member of the UN has ever hid his identity as you do! Even Dr. Doom does not do that."
For a moment the room fell quiet, wondering if Doom would respond. But other than taking another long sip from his favorite cup, Doom did not respond. Instead he simply looked back, his masked glare causing the Russian to quail most nicely.
"I will answer your points in order, Mr. Orolovno," the masked Guardian replied, pronouncing the Russian name correctly, something that few English speakers could the first time. "First, you should do so because you all know some of what I have been doing to protect this planet from the Kree. Something, I shouldn't have to add, that should have been this body's duty, but one which none of you even attempted to meet. I know you all have seen the Fantastic Four's reports on the Kree and Susan Richard's announcement after the last battle."
As the Russian scowled and mutters began all around, Guardian continued calmly. "As for my power base, I have built up a massive defense force in space, and I do, in point of fact, have a large power base beyond my own personal power, the nature of which I will elucidate here. Tell me, Mr. Orolovno, would you like to travel to Mars to see some of the work going on? Or would you like to wait until I bring forward the Kree prisoners my men and I have taken? Including the commanding officer of this last attack?"
That shut the mutters down immediately, and the numerous cameramen who had been gleeful before were now thinking Pulitzer prizes. The new US ambassador's calm statement cut through the sudden silence easily. "And the last point my colleague raised, Guardian? I believe the time for masks is past."
"I think so too," Guardian replied. To the barely hidden surprise of many there, he reached up to his mask, pulling it off slowly as he talked. "After all, I am not here just as Guardian, leader of the Custodes Mundi, but as Harry Potter, owner of Magical Minds, Arc Technologies, and others."
For a moment the silence in the room was profound, then it disappeared into shouts of surprise, shock, and more often than not various repetitions of the refrain, 'Why the bleep couldn't we make that connection before this!?' Harry simply sat there, smiling beatifically as this storm of responses went on, exchanging a brief look with Doom, who was chuckling at everyone's reaction.
Inside his head Harry could feel Emma and the others laughing too, while beside him Ororo rolled her eyes. She had rolled them too soon, however, because a second later Jean turned to Emma and asked brightly, "So, want to bet on how long it takes them to recover?"
In the end it took about ten minutes for everyone to calm down, making Emma's bet the closest of them all. Eventually the Indian ambassador spoke up, his tone dust dry. "You do realize this raises further questions, Mr. Potter?"
"I am willing to answer your questions about myself, so long as they are not too invasive, though I am not willing to answer any questions about who the Custodes are. Their identities will remain secret until they each make the choice to go public with them. That is their choice, and that is not up for debate," Harry warned.
"However," Harry went on over the protests and cries of 'full disclosure' at that, "perhaps we can get to the real reason why I'm here."
"Now wait a fucking minute!" shouted the Brazilian ambassador. "Is this all some kind of plot you've come up with to further your pro-mutant social platform?! Why have you created the Custodes?"
"I agree with my colleague. Your company's social stance has not solely addressed what you would need to in order to get humanity to worry about space-based threats. Why, if you are from another dimension as you first interview stated, did you decide to champion mutant rights? What do you have to gain from it?" asked another ambassador speaking English unlike the first one, his accent distinctly high-class.
Harry shrugged and explained how he had come to see the mutant cause as this world's wizard versus mundane conflict, giving a brief overview of his life. This caused a few ambassadors who were devout Catholics or Muslims to denounce him and his company's goods as tools of Satan. There were also shouts about how his companies had monopolies and therefore should be broken up, which caused him to laugh. No one else, after all, could create his goods, and he certainly wasn't willing to share his manufacturing secrets with them.
The UK ambassador soon came in on his side of things, followed by the Canadian ambassador, and finally the Italian and others. There were other questions about why he had decided to take the mutant's side, which Harry answered by saying he had determined to bridge the gap between them in as many ways as possible.
Harry's favorite was a shouted question from the Egyptian ambassador, who shouted, "What right do you have to sit there and dictate who and who is not human? Who gave you the right to decide you knew what was best for humanity!?"
"Because no one else was doing it," Harry replied, his face a wintry frown. "You're going to listen to me saying that several times. But the gist of why I decided to is that my definition of human is very broad. And I come from a world where a small minority with powers gave rise to those who believed that magic gave them the right to play with the lives of those who didn't have it. To rape, butcher, and control those who had not been born with magic, and to further control those who did not come from their own society."
His eyes flicked over to the German, Turkish, and Russian ambassadors before gazing around, his glare a laser. "Further, I am a student of history and know what can happen to a small minority who sticks out from the majority for one reason or another. What has been done in the past in the name of religious or ideological fervor or even simple expediency could all too easily be done because of fear and hate."
While those three worthies, especially the Turkish man, began to boil over, Harry went on calmly, his voice a cold scalpel, cutting them off before they could speak. "Genocide fueled by hate on one side and the possibility of mutants giving rise to a group like my own Death Eaters. Is it any wonder why I felt the need to try and stop either of those from happening?"
Despite Harry's attempt to claim the moral high ground (or his success in doing so, according to Jean and the others) the questions went on for another forty minutes merely about what Harry had been doing to ensure outright war didn't break out between mutants and non-powered humans. Halfway through the tenor of those questions shifted, mainly because of how vague Harry was on the details: where Magneto's base had been, what had happened with most of the madman's people, what he was currently doing, and so on. One major hang-up was that Harry was open about spiriting away mutants to be trained in how to use their powers to a school, but refused to give the names of his students and, of course, refused to disclose where Camelot was.
His refusal on this point got more and more blunt as the ambassadors railed about it. They hated the fact that they had little to no idea where Harry's main base of operations was. This bothered them all equally, even the ambassadors of the UK and America, though they just remained silent.
Eventually he shut them up by saying that if they didn't stop questioning him about that point, he'd consider all of them fishing for information to be used in a military attack. "Needless to say, any such move would be considered an act of war. One I would respond to via decapitation strikes on the leadership of the countries in question. Including any ambassadors they have to this body."
This thinly veiled threat and Harry's bold challenge as to why they had been prioritizing that item in their questioning won a moment of silence, which the chief speaker used to call for a brief recess, which everyone agreed to, if only for the legendary bladders of politicians failing them.
Harry and his people also retreated into a room where they hid out, avoiding the opportunity to mingle, much to Emma's chagrin. But Harry wanted to cover the space-based threats before letting the ambassadors attempt to corral him in a less formal setting. "Okay, everyone, how do we all think we're doing here?" Harry asked tiredly, conjuring up and then plopping into a nice, soft sofa with Ororo curling up next to him.
With Jean and Emma linking them all, the command group all were able to speak without anyone being able to listen in. "I think you ruffled a lot of feathers with that last threat, but given how they were acting it was the only way to get on with things," Emma said first. "However, once they calm down many of the ambassadors will respect you for taking that hard line. Remember, threats and power are what is respected here. Don't expect moral high grounds to gain you much, since they will all be wondering what you're really getting out of it."
"If cynicism was an energy source you might be able to power one of your starships with the amount found in that room," Hela said, then added, "With perhaps the addition of Emma. But she is right, as I feared. These people care only for their own positions, Harry, not humanity as a whole and certainly not anything else."
"I agree to a point," Scott said, leaning back in his own conjured chair while Amara paced the room like a caged animal, making Harry thankful that he hadn't decided to bring Dani along. The Cheyenne would have been going stir crazy having to stand still for all that time. "There are a lot of side conversations going on among the smaller countries from what I could tell. Most of them are leery about what your stance on mutant rights is already costing them—access to your goods, I mean—and are waiting with trepidation for the next shoe to fall."
Looking over at Amara, Scott got a nod back and went on. "Yet at the same time there seems to be some real, visible signs of relief or something similar. Harry, none of these people are evil, they are simply self-serving. None of them could have, or would have, tried to find a 'solution' to the mutant problem. But they are thankful that someone has been able to bridge that divide, and I think a lot of them will simply accede that you had a point and let it go at that."
"You know Jean and I could make certain that's the case," Emma said, looking over at the redhead, who had actually decided to take a nap after telling the others to, 'wake me up when we get to something more interesting.' "I wouldn't even have to change their minds for them. Just…see if Scott and Amara are right."
"No. I know you mean well, Emma, and if they were all bigots or more directly dangerous to us, I might have allowed it. But these are not enemy combatants or even supporters. They are simply politicians doing what they do best: looking out for themselves," Harry replied grimly. "I will not bend on that moral line even if they would in my place. It's called being the better person, love. And it can be thought of as a victory at times like this all on its own. Just remember, for all their bluster these idiots really don't have power to threaten us."
"Or to make decisions beyond a certain point. Best to keep that in mind when you go back in, Harry Potter," Hela warned.
Once the UN reps came back, Harry finally got to the real reason why he was addressing the UN: the space-borne threats that were out there. Harry felt they had been making enough headway with separate countries that attempting to further address mutant rights with the UN was pointless. However, he needed them to know about and agree to, or, at the very least, not get in his way as he continued to be build up the EDF.
This conversation went on until dusk with many stops and starts. Several of these points Harry knew, going in, would be problems, such as his owning a large and varied space fleet, albeit one entirely taken from the Kree. That and the fact that he, Doom, and the UK had already created the EDF stuck in a lot of craws. But with Doom, the UK ambassador, and Harry all talking about it, the UN assembly was forced to realize that without Harry and his efforts, humanity might well have been conquered or simply wiped out. The nature of the fait accompli bothered many of the ambassadors, and they were extremely vocal about it. Worse was how large the EDF had already grown.
It was also telling that only Russia of the five permanent Security Council members objected. When the Russian ambassador realized that not even China objected, he shouted about how Potter had been making deals, and why the hell he hadn't done so with Russia.
"Because Russia has refused to make any inroads toward mutant rights. In Russia, being a mutant is worse than being gay, and many young mutants are mobbed and beaten to death the moment their mutant abilities become visible. It is worse than the pogroms your country used to let loose on the Jews. Because Russia seems to be saber-rattling all the time, and I don't deal with countries who seem to think that their might allows them to threaten their neighbors with impunity even as they prey upon their own citizens," Harry shot back angrily. "If you wish to throw stones, Mr. Orolovno, perhaps you should first make sure you're not living in a glass house."
This statement won a surprising round of cheers from Russia's immediate neighbors, as well as Doom tapping his gauntleted knuckles on his desk. At that point Russia stormed out of the room, and the discussion continued.
Doom took this moment to stand up and tell the assembled ambassadors about how he had been convinced of the alien threat, and how much aid he had given in return for, "some small aid on a personal, familial project of mine." This rather neatly cut out the impact of Orlovno's storming out. It also served to emphasize both that Doom's priorities had changed and once more how large the EDF was swiftly becoming.
Still, one aspect that kept coming up which surprised Harry was the idea of opening dialogue with the Kree. He would have thought that politicians would at least be able to read, but it seemed none of them had bothered reading the portion of the Fantastic Four's packet on Kree society. To combat this concept Harry waited until a break for lunch, then teleported in a few of the Kree prisoners to answer questions.
The main speaker for hits group was Rika, who Harry introduced as the leader of the latest attack, which surprised many of the ambassadors. There were also questions about it being a ruse, or some kind of scheme. "After all, he looks just like a human with his skin painted blue. What's to say that isn't the case!?"
A demonstration of Rika's strength and his inhuman accent helped solve that particular piece of stupidity. This, however, simply meant they could go on to the next piece. Several different ambassadors asked Rika questions, which he answered as well as he could, but his lack of understanding of some of the questions, such as why Earth had been targeted, disturbed many. That was okay. That bothered Harry too, since none of their prisoners, not even Mar'vell, understood why he had been sent here initially.
Yet that didn't stop a few of the ambassadors asking Rika if Earth could join the Kree Empire.
In response Rika laughed. "Of course not. You are not Kree."
"But you have surely absorbed other races, brought them in peacefully into your fold?" asked a random ambassador.
"No, why would we? What could non-Kree possibly have to offer?" Rika asked, looking confused. "If you are not strong enough to fight us off you are not worthy of surviving at all. All you would be worth would be as cheap labor on jobs which have too high a fatality rate for Kree to be used on, and there are not many such."
Yet the ambassadors persisted, seemingly believing that as a naval officer Rika was not a representative example of his people. The next direct question on this point came from Romania and had Harry and all the security council ambassadors scowling. "Yet surely you have to admit that if we surrendered and became part of your empire you could have access to our resources for far less a cost. This would, of course, include the minds of those like Reed Richards and others. If that were the case, surely your people would have mercy on us?"
"Why do you keep bringing this idea up?" Rika interrupted abruptly, almost growling the words. "YOU…ARE…NOT…KREE. You do not matter. Your planet, your race, your so-called nations, you do not matter. We do not treat with species such as yours; we eradicate them."
"If you fight like that, then why in the hell did you surrender?" asked someone else from the far back. "That seems odd to me."
"I surrendered to save my people dying in battle against a superior opponent who had us trapped, and because primitive races like yourselves often believe they can ransom Kree soldiers back. You can't, but that doesn't stop many from trying. This in turn allows me and my fellows live for a time," Rika said, shaking his head and answering the question more fully than he had before. "I was honor-bound to surrender my men when our position became untenable. This does not in any way change our fate, but at least plasma bombardment is supposed to be quick."
That shook the UN assembly, causing a moment of silence, and Harry spoke into the sudden silence quickly. "At this point I feel like I'm a bloody teacher who should be asking the class if they've read the assigned chapters. Have any of you actually read all of the Fantastic Four's report on the Kree?"
Only four hands in the whole room minus Doom went up, though Harry was interested to note that the Indian ambassador was one of them as was the American, while the UK ambassador had not. "All right. Until such time as you all can be bothered to actually read about the issue under discussion, we can table asking Rika or the others any further questions."
With that Harry waved his hand. Cory, who was on station for just this purpose, popped in at that signal and, unseen by any, popped back out with Rika. He was so quick about it that to the politicians around him it looked as if Harry had done it himself. This unilateral decision brought shouts and cries of outrage, but Harry ignored them. Instead, after sighing theatrically, Harry went into further details about the battles against the Kree, "Seeing as you people evidently can't read." He covered the first battle against the Hellion and had Una come in and corroborate the commander's orders.
This served two important functions: it emphasized the callous nature of the Kree Empire in its orders and gave the ambassadors and the public beyond the first indication that there were Kree individuals who were not nearly as sociopathic as the majority. The fact that none of those individuals were in power, however, was equally telling. Una was the equivalent of a senior doctor, but Mar'vel, a hero to pale-skinned Kree and Una's lover, had not been nearly as empathic towards humanity as she was.
And the fact she, an alien, agreed with Harry that the Kree would never seek peace, went over very poorly. Like Rika before her, Una fielded numerous questions on this point despite Harry's earlier remarks against it. But while she was more sympathetic about it, the answers were much the same as from Rika: that the Kree would not treat with non-Kree.
From there Harry talked about the mission to steal Kree ships and then return. Many of the ambassadors surprised themselves by cheering at that point, but not nearly as many cheered for that as they did the news that the light show from months back had indeed been another battle against a Kree fleet intent on bombarding Earth back to the stone age. Many of them had been informed of this but hadn't believed it until now, and Emma, watching the news from outside the building, told Harry that they weren't the only ones cheering. Of course there were still numerous ambassadors wondering why Harry had taken it upon himself to act like this, but they were few and far between.
However, the biggest reaction was reserved for the battle that resulted in Carnit'Rika becoming Harry's prisoner. The larger ships, the size of the action, and the fact that normal people had died on Fortress Mars drove home the serious nature of the conflict. Here Doom, Reed, and Harry all actually had sensor and even video recordings, and Harry contacted Carol and had her describe the action from her position on Fortress Mars.
When Reed shared a recording from Johnny's perspective as he helped hunt down missiles, a few of the ambassadors whooped with each kill while others became stony-faced. They knew the Earth had survived, and now they were worried about the bill coming due.
Yet when Ororo's final act in the battle shattered the last of the missiles in the upper atmosphere, half the assembly jumped to their feet and began to cheer. Her status as a mutant and even Harry's stance on mutant rights was forgotten in that moment.
However, after that, Harry began to describe what he expected from the governments of the world going forward, as well as what would happen should a nation not sign on. That if it came down to a choice of which nations had priority during an attack, say in a missile or orbital bombardment, the nations which had ponied up would be the first to be defended.
There was a lot of dismay at that, and horrified shouts of protest made any attempt to speak calmly impossible. It took Harry shouting at the top of his Sonorous-aided voice to get the ambassadors to quiet down. Once they did Harry then went on to talk about the types of somewhat lesser deals he was willing to accept, mellowing his message slightly but still taking a harder line than most politicians were comfortable with.
The UK ambassador and Doom took this opportunity to stand up and say they had already made agreements with the EDF to meet Harry's requirements above and beyond the aid they had already given. The US and several other countries followed suit, and soon it became clear that Harry was fair and somewhat even-handed, despite the nature of his demands.
This quieted down many, but not all. Once more there were numerous shouts that many countries would refuse to deal with a terrorist, no matter his manifesto. There were still others who didn't want anyone else to control their orbitals whatever happened.
The Russian Ambassador had returned at the dinner break and had been silent up to this point, stewing in his chair. Orolovno was furious about the entire thing, and he was the loudest of those protesting now. He shouted that Harry had the entire world hostage, agreeing with those other ambassadors saying that Harry was some kind of terrorist.
But Harry coolly replied that even UN troopers needed to be paid and led, and he was the only one in the game. "If Russia or someone else can get into space and help out in a meaningful manner without my aid, I would be happy to see it."
That shut the man up since that was the crux of the matter: no one had been able to figure out a way to get into space with enough infrastructure to come anywhere near matching what Harry had. Not even a hardcore politician could argue that point. Of course he was still glaring daggers at Harry and Ororo, but they ignored that with ease.
From there Harry handed out packets to the as yet unaligned countries, including France, since Harry hadn't heard from them. The ambassador of that country smiled and took the packet, saying they would be in touch within the week. He had been impressed and actually touched when he heard the name of the Verdun defense platform, though Harry had not described how they were being built or anything about his industrial capacity. He had described the Kree ships and Fortress Mars, however, which had been enough.
As it was pushing near nine at night, Harry decided to end the meeting now, something which everyone else in the room agreed with eagerly, wishing to check in back home as to what they should do before continuing the talks the next day. As they began to break up, Harry got in a final word. "Remember, ladies and gentlemen, the deals we make will see to the defense of Earth, of our species, against an alien who denies us the right to exist. Not just to exist free, but to exist at all. When balanced against that, is the aid I am asking for really that steep a price?"
That drew numerous scoffs, sneers, and shouts from the more bellicose or stupid ambassadors. However Harry and his companions were able to exit the room without further trouble. Outside the building they found the soldiers who had been keeping order around the building still there, having been reinforced by another company of men.
As Harry led the way outside, many of the soldiers turned and, apparently without orders, began to salute Harry and Ororo. The two of them in turn returned the salutes, as did Amara and Scott as they followed the two out of the building. Behind the line of soldiers was a massive crowd of New Yorkers, and someone in there began to cheer as the four of them and Steve exchanged handshakes before separating.
With the cameras snapping among the massive crowd, Harry gestured. The four of them gently rose into the air, disappearing into the sky of New York. They left behind them a nation and a world that now knew it had begun to change and had to change even more to survive. But it was also a nation that now knew what was being asked of it, and a world beyond America that felt that, just perhaps, it was up to the challenge. The question was, would the rest of the world be willing to attempt the same?